


Not Anymore

by xSpiderwolfx



Category: None - Fandom
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 19:21:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21361384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xSpiderwolfx/pseuds/xSpiderwolfx
Summary: "I'm a bit twisted, sure, but what's humanity without a bit of crazy?





	Not Anymore

“Again? Another one of these stupid tattoos? Not in my household. Our god put marks on your body where he wanted them, and he wouldn’t want all these drawings on your skin!” My mother’s shouts rang through my ears. I knew she was about to throw me out, all I could do was hope that she might’ve forgotten about her promise to me last week.

“Then why are there bruises all over me, mom? I guess he wouldn’t want those there, either!” Yelling back at her would only make matters worse, I’m sure, but if she were to toss me into the streets anyway, why not?

Saying those words to her after all these years of abuse felt good. As if the screams my mind has been weaving into my thoughts since childhood have finally been released, and it was so refreshing.

“You ungrateful heathen!” the woman’s palm came into hard contact with my cheek, and I was sure it left a mark. She gripped my upper left arm tightly and marched me over to the front door. “Come back when you learn some manners!”

As she let go of me, I slid on the gravel of our driveway, knowing there were immediate cuts on my flesh though I barely felt them, due to the eons of mistreatment I’ve been given.

“Dude, are you okay?”

I heard a girl’s voice from behind me, and looked toward the opposite side of the street to find the source.

She darted toward me, burgundy colored hair floating behind her. I spotted a black Tesla parked across from my house, and assumed she had come out of it.

“I saw her throw you out, I’m so sorry. What happened?” she asked as she sat down next to me, her thumb grazing over a couple bruises on my thigh.

“She doesn’t like tattoos,” I said simply, raising my hand to show her the black markings on my fingers. I’m legally allowed to get inked, but my parents are strictly christian and don’t want me to.

Realizing I didn’t want to elaborate on the subject, the crystal-eyed girl stood, offering me help up.

“What’s your name, angel?” she pulled back to look me in the face.

“I’m Echo. What’s yours?”

“Alistair, but I go by Ali. Do you need a ride somewhere, or do you have anywhere to go?”

“I don’t have family anywhere, really. My mother’s parents died young, my Dad’s gone, no siblings, and I don’t really know cousins, aunts or anything.” I listed off any options I could think of.

I didn’t mind her looking at me, because I was enjoying seeing her. She had an adorable upturned nose and perfectly clear skin, a shade of pale ivory. Even though she wasn’t smiling, I noticed she had prominent dimples on either side of her plump lips.

“I know we’ve only just met, but would you want to come stay with me? I live with two 19 year olds, Colton and Christopher. They’re both mad gay, so you don’t have to worry about them coming onto you, and they pretty much stay in their room all the time.” she stated, rubbing my arms soothingly as we stood in front of my former home.

“Yeah, but promise me none of you are serial killers.” I said, and held out my pinky finger. With a laugh she hooked hers with mine, then laced our hands together completely as we walked toward her car.

I took shotgun and she sat in the driver’s seat. As she started the car and the engine began to rumble, The 1975 began to play at a soft volume and she immediately began to sing along.

“And this is how it starts, take your shoes off in the back of my van. My shirt looks so good when it’s just hanging off your back. And she said, ‘Use your hands and my spare time, we’ve got one thing in common, and it’s this tongue of mine’. She’s got a boyfriend anyway, she’s got a boyfriend anyway.”

Even though I decided not to say anything, I immediately took note of how pretty her voice was. The way she was singing the song was more gentle and kind than the one pouring out of the speakers, but yet it somehow matched perfectly. Throughout the long drive, she continued to amaze me with her vocals until I finally broke the not-so-quiet silence.

“Ali?”

“What’s up?” she glanced at me for a moment then looked back at the road, turning the music down.

“I was wondering why you were just parked on my street. It’s a back road, so I was just kinda confused.” I say, and she looks at me again briefly.

“My brother texted me, and he hardly ever sends short messages, so I had to pull over to read it. It’s rush hour, so I didn’t want to be on the main road.” she explained.

“What do you plan to do once we get to your place?” I asked another question, enjoying talking to her.

“Um, I have to work on a commision for somebody online, and I’ll probably watch Glee or something while I do that. Why?” she took a right turn, looked at me, then back at the road.

“I was just wondering,” I said honestly, getting butterflies in my stomach. I was going to go live with a stranger, I had no clothes or anything packed, I didn’t even have my phone! I didn’t want to bother Ali with my problems, though, so I kept my mouth shut. I’d have to live without it.

“Would you mind if I sit in with you?” She shook her head.

“No, I wouldn’t mind at all. Just so you know, Chris and Colton are barely home except for on the weekends, because they both leave at around 7 in the morning and get back at 10, so you’ll barely notice they’re there.” she looked at me again and continued. “We have company pretty often, too. A 16 year old kid named Vhenna comes over sometimes, I’ve known her since she was 3, so we’re basically family. Her parents have dinner with us at least every other weekend because Chris is an amazing cook, and some of Cole's friends from high school come over pretty frequently too."

I nodded and looked out the window. Mom didn’t let me eat today, but I can go to Wendy's or something later.  
About 15 minutes later, we were there. She parked the car along the side of the road and came over to open my door. When I got out, I looked at the house for the first time.

The white walls stood about 20 feet high with windows lining pretty much the whole thing, displaying grey curtains on each of them, except for the ones on the second story, which were showing the inside of the modernly decorated home.

“You’re welcome to any of the food, don’t worry about paying me back. We make plenty of money as it is.” she stated as she walked up. I stood my ground, marveling at the colossal building.

“Coming, Snowflake?” she chuckled, glancing back at me. I nodded and jogged up toward the entrance.

~

“You thought you’d leave that easily? It’s not over for you!” the woman shouted, grabbing a metal spatula that she’d been using to cook eggs. She hit my head as hard as she could, and I would’ve fallen over if it weren’t for her grabbing my shoulder and throwing me against the marble island. When I straightened up, I saw my own blood scattered across it.

“How dare you just leave me like that? You know I don’t get enough income to pay the rent on my own!” 

“Mom, I’m sorry! I just- you threw me out so I didn’t think you wanted me around!” I explained, covering my face with my arms. 

“You stupid mutt!” she brought her hand up to slap me, which she did, knocking me to the ground. “I wanted you to learn manners, not leave! You’ve always been incredibly ignorant, I don’t know what I was expecting.” with a kick in my ribs, she walked back up the stairs. I didn’t think I could stand, my whole body was aching from head to toe. As I laid on the tile flooring, I heard her shout at my dad to come down and “finish the job”. Terrified of what he’d do to me, I dragged myself towards the window, despite my mind screaming at my not to. I used the counter to pull myself up and began to try opening it, hoping to be able to leave before he got downstairs.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t quick enough, and heard my father’s bounding footsteps coming toward me. I began to scream as he grabbed my waist to pull me backward.

“Echo! E, listen to me!” I thought my dad was shouting at me, but the voice was different…

“Echo, wake up!” I finally realized I was being shaken, and opened my eyes.

“Are you okay, babygirl?” Alistair’s eyes met my own, and I finally realized just how much I was spazzing. My whole body was quivering and my throat hurt, so I assume I was screaming. 

“I’m sorry.” I told her, sitting up and propping myself against the wall.

“Why are you sorry? You didn’t do anything wrong, it was just a nightmare.” her voice was soft and comforting. I looked up at her again, and she was making her way across the bed towards me. Copying my position, she spoke again. “May I ask what it was about?” she asked. I wanted to reply, I wanted to tell her, but I couldn’t get myself to trust her enough. She seems like a great person, I just can’t put my thoughts in her hands. Not yet, at least.

“No, not right now. Did you already eat?” the words came out with a crack laced into them, I knew I was about to cry.

“I haven’t. I’ll go make some sandwiches.” she said, rubbing my arm before crawling down the bed and hopping off.

“I’m vegan,” I say, and she smiles.

“Same.” With that, she walked out the door and down the hall.

Even though I barely knew Ali, I found comfort in just being near her. Maybe it was her luminous eyes that sparkled even in the dark. Or perhaps the way she sounded and looked like an angel all the time, without even trying. Perhaps even the way her voice constantly had a hint of curiosity and wonder in it.

I slid down the mattress so I was laying down, and stared at her ceiling. She had red lights instead of the traditional off white, so the whole room was a shade of fiery maroon. There were countless glowing stickers in the shape of swords scattered across the roof, adding a sort of fun element. As I awaited her return, I did my best to count them. As hard as I tried to keep my thoughts organized, the highest I got was to 47 before losing count.

“Hey, mama.” I heard the door click signifying she had entered, so I sat up again. She was holding one plate in each hand, each with toasted sub sandwiches on it.

“That looks delicious, Ali, thanks.” I say, taking the sandwich from her left hand.

“I wanna get to know you. So I’ll ask you a question, and depending on what it is, you can skip it. But every one that I ask you, I’ll answer as well, and vice versa.” she stated, not even asking me if I was okay with it. I admire her confidence, I’ll tell you that.

“Alright, sure.” I shuffled a bit to turn toward her. 

“What’s your favorite color?” she asks.

“I like bright green and black. They look cool, I guess.”

“That’s interesting. I took a psychology class a couple years ago, and did you know that your favorite colors can actually tell a lot about your personality?”

I giggle and reply. “Yeah, actually I did. Green and black contrast a lot, so that means you have kind of a split personality, and tend to act differently with different people without meaning to or even realizing you’re doing it.”

Her face turns from triumphant to impressed as she nods. “Not many people know that.”

“I’ve said that exact thing to multiple people. Anyway, now you answer.”

“My favorite color is yellow. What’s your favorite number?” she smiles at me.

“Either 12, 18, or 1. I’m not quite sure,” I say, and she begins to laugh loudly. “What’d I do..?”

“Your eyes just crossed and I have no idea why!” she gasps, trying to catch her breath.

“I- what?”

~

It’s probably close to midnight as of now, and I'm sitting on the couch in the living room. Alistair and I have been hanging out since I woke up earlier, and the boys came out a couple hours ago. Although the they have been smoking since 11:00, Ali and I opted out of that.

“Alistair!”.

“Whatchu need?” she turned away from me to look at Chris.

“Postmate some daiquiris.”

“Do it yourself, fool!”

“No, my phone’s in the bedroom and I’m comfy.” he mumbled, turning back toward the T.V. and snuggling up to Colton.

"Chris, you can't postmate daiquiris." Colton giggled to him.

"You can't?

"I don't think so, at least."

“Aren’t they cute?” Ali leaned over to me and whispered in my ear as we watched them whisper.

“Yeah, I guess.”

I’ve had trouble looking at couples since my last relationship that ended about a month ago. My first and last love, Hunter Hathaway. Just like my mother, he was abusive and used my money instead of getting his own job to get food for himself, and wouldn’t let me eat it, so I basically starved for the whole year we were together. We lived in an apartment a few minutes away from my mom by ourselves, and he was an absolute slob. Even though I was constantly cleaning, I couldn’t keep up with him so the apartment was always filthy.

Not only that, but he was so degrading. He always told me I was too fat, too ugly. He made me get plastic surgery in my chest and butt, as well as liposuction and lip injections. Because of his bullying, I hardly eat now. Once or twice a week and I’m good. When I said I hadn’t eaten today, I was being honest, but I also hadn’t eaten all week. It’s a Wednesday, so I’ll eat again Saturday then wait until Thursday to eat again. It’s how I’ve functioned for a year, it’s how I’ll function now.

“Echo, are you good?” Ali rubbed my thigh to snap me out of my daze.

“Yeah, I’m okay. Do you guys have any wine or whiskey?” I asked. I don’t actually like either of those, but if it helps, it helps.

“We do but you’re technically underage, so are we. You sure?”

“We’re out in the middle of nowhere, the police aren’t coming out just to make sure we’re not drinking. Not only that, but Colton and Chris are high as the clouds right now. I think we’ll be fine,” I said, and with a nod, she told me where it was.

~

“Ella?” I spoke softly, trying not to wake Alistair up.

“Yeah, I’m here. What’s up, why’re you calling?”

“Mom threw me out.” I said through Ali’s phone.

“Do you need somewhere to stay, then?” she asked, sounding a bit annoyed. She lived with her boyfriend Finley, but even if it’d be annoying, I knew she’d take me in.

“No, I’m staying with a newfound friend, I just really wanted to hear your voice. I miss you.” I told her.

Ella’s my cousin, she’s 23 and lives in Korea currently. I know that’s bonkers, but she’s always wanted to live there, so she married some rich kid. That sounded wrong, whoops. She’s not a gold digger, she didn’t even know he had money at first. She found that out when he pulled up to her house in a matte black dodge challenger. She’ll come back when the money runs out.

“I miss you, too, kiddo.” she sounded groggy and tired, and I could hear crickets singing in the background. I hadn’t realized what time it would be where she is.

“Alright, Echo, I love you, but it’s exactly 3:30 in the morning right now. Can we talk when I get up, please?” she grumbled.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. Love you bye.” I said.

“Bye.”


End file.
